She keeps these reminders of her former self from nine years ago stored under her bed, but because it's been a rocky road to where she is now, she has never been quite comfortable in clothes that actually fit her.

"I think I was a size 14 still wearing my size 20 clothing before I realized I should buy some new things," she explains. "People were telling me, 'Oh you look so good,' but I thought they were mocking me and I had always been so ashamed of what I looked like until I started losing weight. So I finally went to the store to buy new stuff."

That's when she said, she started getting a problem of weight-loss that a lot of women experience but don't talk about openly: "Flaunt It" syndrome.

"I started buying clothing that was too small for me because the weight was coming off fast and I figured I'd fit into it soon anyway," Katherine recounted. "I borrowed clothes from my cousin too. So here I was, a size 12 at this point, wearing size 8 clothing, and low-slung jeans. Then I was a size 8, wearing clothing that looked better on really thin, model-like girls. There are pictures of me now with my stomach hanging out, and I have no idea what I was thinking."

But even in a crop top and teeny jeans, Katherine says she still felt her fat shadow hanging over her.

"I was wearing these clothes that 'thin people' wear, but I felt just as heavy as I did in my size 20 clothes. I was still the same girl. No matter what people said. I thought changing what I wore would make me actually feel like I was losing the weight, but it didn't make it seem anymore real," Katherine, who is now 28 and started a healthy eating and exercise weight loss routine in college, admits.

She eventually got down to around a size 4 before plateau-ing.

"I was frustrated because I still felt fat. Everyone was telling me I wasn't but it didn't matter," she says.

Katherine may have jokingly dubbed it her fat shadow, but that's just a funny term used by women for something much more serious, according to registered dietician and nutritionist Heather Bauer, founder of Bestowed.com.

"What Katherine is struggling with is called body dysmorphic disorder and unfortunately, it's very common for people who have lost a significant amount of weight," says Bauer.

Katherine's weight eventually went to a size 10, due to frustrated yo-yo dieting, where she stayed for about a year.

"During that year though, I think that's when I realized what I should be wearing for my size and body type and what actually looked good on me. No more belly shirts, no more mumus," says Katherine.

"I am a size 6 now, which I'm happy with and where I'd like to stay, give or take five pounds. But I can't help but think I'm bigger. I will always feel as if I am bigger," she says. "I think there is something in my mind that says I don't deserve to be smaller than this, or at least smaller than I have been recently, which was a size 10."

According to Bauer, it can be hard for women to accept their new body shape after weight loss. "It can lower self esteem and ultimately lead to weight gain," she says. Her advice: Don't focus on the number and zero in on living a healthier lifestyle.

Unfortunately, Katherine says the fat shadow dictates more than just her wardrobe choices.

"My friends and family have said my fat shadow is a problem in my dating life too, because I often choose guys who aren't good enough for me and I let them treat me poorly. It's like I'm still carrying the crappy confidence I had before I lost the weight. That sucks, because I was a totally different person then. I'm working on it, but it's nine years later, and the fat shadow, and the fat clothes, are still around."